Red Roses
by SciFiGleek
Summary: Rose secretly returned to our universe years ago in order to sabotage the Cybermen's plan to attack our Earth. However, when her husband, the meta-crisis Doctor, is abducted she only knows of one man she can go to for help. Someone who thought that he would never see her again.
1. Chapter 1

Rose ruffled through her bag, pulling out every single item that could possibly be inside – a handful of coins, old tissues, and a single glove. Every item imaginable except for the one she was looking for. "John!" Rose called, abandoning the pointless search through her bag and moving on to inspect the inside of the junk drawer, "Have you seen my car keys?" Her husband didn't answer. With a sigh, Rose pushed shut the drawer with her hip, her arms full of the items she had removed from her bag. She paused at the table at the stair's base to dump the contents held back into her bag, then trotted up the stairs. "Honey? I said 'ave you seen my car keys?"

She pocked her blonde head into their bedroom, finding it empty. Same with the entertainment room, the bathroom, the guest room. John was nowhere to be found. Rose frowned. Where _was_ he? Probably in his office, grading papers.

When the Doctor had first dropped them off in the alternate universe, John had been at a loss as to what to do with himself. At first, after taking the name John Smith, he had worked with Pete at his company, helping to clean up the mess the Cybermen had left in their wake and working to get the world back on track without the earpods. John had quickly grown bored of that as, with all of the Doctor's memories, a desk job was like wearing chains. He and Rose had traveled around in the other universe - Egypt, Greece, New York. A small pittance compared to the entire universe. However, when they had been forced to return to the Doctor's reality, Rose had insisted on settling down. She had traveled around enough in the TARDIS, now she was married to the man of her dreams and she wanted to live her life with him like a normal couple… despite the fact that her husband was a duplicate of an alien man. John had taken a lot of convincing, it went against all he was to stop running, but his dedication to Rose had overpowered everything else. He had taken a job at a local high-school, teaching history. He refused to admit, but Rose knew that he quite enjoyed it.

Rose went back down to the second floor, making her way to John's office. She paused and knocked on the door, "Honey are you 'right? Have you seen my car keys? I'm going down to the shop." She knocked again, concern filling her heart. Ignoring her wasn't like him. "Honey?" She opened the door, "You 'right?" Her heart stopped as she saw the mess inside. The room looked like a tornado had whipped around inside. The desk was toppled, half-graded papers covering the ground. The window was shattered, glass everywhere. The bookshelves had been searched, books on the ground and pages ripped out. Already she knew something awful had happened. Then she saw it; drops of blood soaked into the carpet. "Oh my god," Rose whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

She stumbled down the stairs, back to the entryway, grabbing her bag off the table and emptying it out. She grabbed her phone. A warning light was blinking at the top of the screen indicating, to her great frustration and distress, that the battery was running down. She ignored it flipping through her contacts looking for a single number. Her hands were shaking with adrenaline and fear, so it took her two attempts to hit 'Call'.

The words 'Calling TARDIS' came up on the screen, and Rose put the phone to her ear, collapsing to the ground. "Doctor!" she said as soon as the phone was answered, "I need your help."

"Who is this?" a male voice asked on the other end. "How did you get this number?"

"Doctor?" Rose said, her voice quivering, "It's Rose. I need your 'elp."

From the other side of the line she heard the male voice conversing with an urgent female one. The phone was handed off and the woman's voice spoke into the phone. "Hello, this is Dr River Song. I'm going to guess that you were trying to call a vastly different Doctor. Am I right?"

* * *

River Song sat on her bed, in her cell, her blue diary open on her lap. She stared down fondly at a picture of herself and the Doctor standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower, all of Paris strewn out below them. 1929. Paris. A picnic under the stars. The perfect date. River wondered if the Doctor would remember it when the next met or if it would be a distant memory or a memory yet to be made.

A single guard was watching her, as it was the night shift. She had asked for privacy at night, for obvious reasons, but her captors had refused. They merely conceded to lower the number of guards from three to one, even though one guard or even three were hardly a match for River Song.

The phone on the wall across from her cell began to ring. River sat up, interested and slightly worried, placing her book on the bed beside her. The last time she had gotten a phone call, events had escalated to the effect of the Doctor erasing himself from existence.

The guard picked up the phone, "Who is this?" He asked. "How did you get this number?"

"That's probably not for you," River warned him, getting up from her bed and standing by the bars. Her guards never seemed to get the memo that she actually was allowed to receive phone calls. She reached out for the phone, "Really, give it to me."

The guard hesitated and then sighed. "Don't get me fired," he grunted, handing over the phone.

"I'll try not to," River purred. "Hello," she said to the caller, "this is Dr River Song. I'm going to guess that you were trying to call a vastly different Doctor. Am I right?"

"Yeah," the woman on the phone said, "is the Doctor there? Can you give him the phone? Please, it's 'portant." Her voice was ruined with both fear and a hideous cockney accent.

"Believe me," River said, "If the Doctor was here, I wouldn't give him time to take a phone call. When are you?"

"M'sorry?"

"When are you calling from? The TARDIS has a habit of redirecting call here. I once got a call from Winston Churchill that was meant for the Doctor. He was a flirt, and for once I use that word describing someone other than my husband. Now, when are you calling from? I might be able to pass on a message."

"It's 2012."

"Oh," River said, "by any chance did any little black cubes fall from the sky recently?"

"How did you…? Um, yeah. Few months ago. John won't let me keep 'em in the house, reckons their dangerous."

"Well, I can tell you exactly where the Doctor is, my mother told me all about it."

* * *

Rose hurriedly scribbled down the address River had given her. It wasn't far, just the other side of London.

"Good luck," River said, the phone lying on the table next to Rose's pulled-apart bag, set on loud-speaker. "And before you go. Did I hear you tell my guard that your name is Rose? You wouldn't happen to be Rose Tyler? Although, I'm not sure if that's possible."

"I was," Rose said, putting her coin purse back in her bag, "Now I'm Rose Smith."


	2. Chapter 2

Rose's cab pulled up in front of the address River had given her. She looked out the window. Outside was a plain blue town house. Except for the beautiful red car out front and the door painted in the exact same shade of blue as the TARDIS, it looked perfectly ordinary.

"At'll be ten pounds fifty, miss," the driver said, reaching back for his payment.

Rose stuffed a handful of pound coins into his hand, muttering a quick "Keep the change." She got out of the cab, kicking a cube out of her way as she stood. _Please let him be here_, she thought desperately. She went through the gate and up to the door. This didn't seem right; River must have told her the address wrong. It was just too ordinary for the Doctor to be there. She knocked on the door, waiting impatiently as footsteps from inside came to answer.

A young woman opened the door, her red hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. "If you're selling something or trying to get me to join your church or something like that," she said in a vaguely Scottish accent, "I really don't have the time." She flinched as something behind her crashed. "My… I guess you could say 'son-in-law'... is insisting on practically rebuilding my house and I'm having to go around after him cleaning up the mess." She started to close the door, but Rose stopped it.

"Please, it's urgent," Rose begged, "I'm looking for the Doctor."

This got the red-head's attention. "How do you know the Doctor?" she demanded.

"I used to travel with him, and now I really need his 'elp. Please is he there?"

"You're one of his…" the red-head trailed off, "Give me a minute." She slammed the door closed and Rose could hear her yelling to someone else in the house. "Rory, where's the Doctor?"

A male voice answered, but Rose couldn't quite hear what he said. Two or three different voices were detectable, along with several pairs of feet pounding about. After a few minutes of painful waiting, the door opened again. In front of her stood a man, somehow pulling off the odd combination off a tweed jacket and a red bowtie. He looked reminiscent of a geeky university professor. He gawked at her, his bluish green eyes wide. The red-head and a second man, assumedly the 'Rory' the woman had yelled to, stood behind him staring at him instead of Rose as the bowtie wearing man had such an expression of shock on his face he seemed likely to faint on the spot. He made a few incomprehensible sounds then managed to form his words into something intelligible. "Rose?" he gasped. "Rose!" The man glanced over his shoulder at Amy, "Ordinary? Really?"

Without any other warning, Rose found herself enveloped in a tight hug. "Ooff," she muttered into the man's tweed jacket. _Why was this random man…?_ Suddenly she realized who was embracing her. "Doctor?" she asked uncertainly. She pulled back, staring at the strangely familiar new face. He stared back at her, a look of delight on his face. Rose searched for words, finally managing to stammer "You changed again."

* * *

The high scores flashed up on the television screen showing the Doctor that, to his delight, he had beaten his previous record on wii sports. Not on the same level as some of his other accomplishments but still enough to prompt him to make yet another run over the couch in victory. After this Amy had confiscated the game disk.

So the Doctor decided to fix the cabinet door in the kitchen that had been slightly askew since it had been first installed. Then he tightened the pipes under the bathroom sink. Then he cleaned and reorganized the garage… and then reorganized it again when he thought of a better system for the gardening tools. That gave him the idea for digging up and replanting the flowers in the garden. At this point Amy was so livid that she was close to shoving him in the TARDIS (which was completely taking up the space in her living room) and pushing a table in front of it so that he couldn't get out. The Doctor had escaped this and had convinced her to let him cook dinner instead.

Both Ponds had vetoed fish custard, so the Doctor was making plain, boring fish sans the custard. He had just put the fillets in the oven when he heard Amy calling to Rory, "… where's the Doctor?"

"In here Pond," the Doctor answered for Rory, thumping his hand on the kitchen door to make it quite clear where here was.

Amy popped her head inside. "You're still in here?" she asked. "I thought you had run down to that Chinese place down the street to pass off take-out as your own."

The Doctor frowned. "Are you implying that I can't cook?" he asked, insulted. "I happen to have invented a majority of what you have in the fridge."

Amy rolled her eyes, "There's someone for you at the door."

"They aren't UNIT are they?" UNIT had turned up the first day the cubes had arrived and it would be immensely inconvenient if the militant group had decided that he would be more useful locked up at their base. "If they are, tell them I'm… I don't know… make something up!"

"It isn't UNIT, it's a girl. She seems really desperate to see you," Amy added, "Said she used to travel with you."

The Doctor's eyes widened and he pushed past her. "What she look like?"

"I don't know." Amy said, running after him as he darted from window to window, trying to see the person at the door. "Just an ordinary girl."

"Who designed this house? You should be able to see the front door from at least one window."

"You picked it out!" Amy exclaimed.

By this point enough noise had been made for Rory to come racing down from upstairs. "What's wrong?"

The Doctor turned to him, then said intensely "There's someone at the door."

Rory looked confused. Why would the Doctor be so anxious about someone being at the door? He ushered the Doctor towards the door, "Then answer it."

Taking a deep breath, the Doctor ran his fingers through his hair (a nervous habit left over from his last regeneration) then lunged for the door handle and yanked open the door. He stared at the woman on the other side in shock.

Rose Tyler.

Wonderful, incredible Rose Tyler.

The Doctor had never expected to see Rose again. It was painful enough when he had requested a visual interface with the TARDIS and her image had appeared. So much guilt. Rose's fate had tormented him, eaten away at him, and although he would never admit it he often wished for her. Wished he could bring her back and travel with her again. He had trapped her in the alternate reality and her tears haunted him. He had missed her terribly for the last three hundred years. So much guilt.

"Rose?" he wasn't sure if he was really seeing her or not, it just seemed much too impossible. "Rose!" The shock of her being there was broken by his remembering how Amy had described Rose. He turned to the red-head, staring at her, flabbergasted. "Ordinary? Really?"

Amy shrugged.

The Doctor shook his head in amusement, turning his attention back to Rose. Beautiful Rose. _Amy must be jealous_.

Throwing his arms around Rose he pulled her in tight. She gasped in surprise, her arms limp by her sides while he held to her with everything he had. Her complete lack of affection made him realize; his entire appearance had changed since she saw him last. His face, his style of clothes, everything. He was about to tell her who he was, when she pulled away and stammered "Doctor?" She stared at him, her jaw dropped so far it was threatening to tickle her toes. "You changed again," she managed to say after a few moments.

If Rose kept on stating the obvious, she might well give Mickey a run for his money when it came to idiocy. Although on her it was endearing. The Doctor nodded, grinning widely. "What do you think?" he questioned, rocking back on his heels to display his new body.

Rose didn't look impressed. "You're wearing a bowtie."

Was that a compliment? _Probably not_. The Doctor decided to take it as one either way. Despite this he reached up and adjusted the gaudy red accessory, "Yeah, bowties are cool." He turned to his present companion, "Right Amy?"

"Nope," the red-head said, "been trying to convince him otherwise for years… Doctor go to the kitchen. It smells like something's burning."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Ah," he said, backing through the doorway, "That will be the fish. Better check on that."

"No custard!" Amy shouted after him.

* * *

"You're wearing a bowtie." Was that really the best Rose could come up with? Well, _actually_, she was in a rather horrible state of shock. She hadn't expected the Doctor to have regenerated again and although she _had_ expected him to be surprised to see her, making him go white as if he'd just seen a ghost was not part of the plan. It had been a shock enough for her to see him; she could only imagine how it would be for him to see her. They hadn't exactly parted on the easiest of terms; it had been an emotional goodbye, to say the least.

The Doctor, however, seemed to recover quickly enough after seeing her. Responding with a cheerful "Bowties are cool" in response to her judging comment.

When the Doctor went to check on whatever was burning, the man named Rory hurried off after him, probably to make sure that the Doctor didn't make any fire that had started in the kitchen bigger. The Doctor hadn't changed much then, although Amy's comment about custard confused Rose somewhat.

"Come on in Rose… it is Rose right?" Amy said, smiling welcomingly.

Nodding, Rose stepped inside. "You must be my replacement then," she said awkwardly. She had already suspected that he would have found new companions and from the way the Doctor behaved around Amy and Rory, she could tell that they were her replacements.

"Actually," Amy said, leading her through the house to the living room, "I think there's been a few since you. I once convinced him… well _tricked_ him… into showing me pictures of all his companions."

Amy seemed nice enough but the man, Rory, was a bit shy. However, from experience, Rose knew that Rory couldn't be as sheepish as he looked, not if he traveled with the Doctor. At least the Doctor wasn't alone. He should never be alone.

Rose glanced at the TARDIS, which was parked in the corner of the room, then sat down on the couch, feeling like she was intruding. The TARDIS was parked in these folks' living room. The Doctor would never have even considered staying with her and her mom for more than five minutes if he could avoid it. These two were obviously precious to the Doctor.

The walls were lined with pictures of the three of them in various locations; Egypt before the pyramids were built, Venice in the sixteenth century and what looked like a space-station, among many others. "Bet he didn't like that."

"Didn't like what?" Amy asked in confusion. She glanced at one of the nearest pictures. "Venice? Actually I think he loved it, although I would have liked it better without the vampires."

"I met a werewolf," Rose retorted, "And ghosts. But you tricking 'im, I mean," Rose clarified. "Bet he didn't like that."

"No he didn't. Although I've always wanted to ask one of his old companions: Do you know anything about a metal d…?" Amy quieted as the Doctor entered along with Rory.

"Rose," the Doctor said, his voice void of emotion, "what are you doing here? You can't be here." He sat on the table in front of her taking her hands in his. "It's not possible."

"John and I found a loop-hole," Rose said.

The Doctor raised a thin eyebrow. "I'm sorry, who?"

"The… um…" she thought back to what the Doctor had said years ago, "the meta-crisis duplicate of you."

"He took the name John Smith. I should have got that; it's what I would have done in his place. Not important right now. How did you get to this universe again?"

"I dunno. John figured it out. Doctor you have to help me?"

"Rose…" the Doctor began, but was interrupted by Amy.

"I'm sorry!" Amy said. "'Duplicate of you'? _What?_"

"Long story," the Doctor waved her off, "Hand cut off, regeneration energy in the hand, human Doctor. Anyway, Rose, why did you leave? You could have destroyed both this world and that one if even one thing had gone wrong."

"The cybermen came back."


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor was in detective mode and quite enjoying it. He was standing in the middle of John's wrecked study, an intense expression of concentration on his face. He had scratched off a bit of the dried blood on the carpet and after tasting it, much to Rose's distress, declared that it did indeed belong to his duplicate (which only served to distress Rose more). "And you didn't hear anything? No shouts or crashes? All this furniture thrown about you should have heard something."

"Well," Rose replied, "I didn't, did I? If I had heard somethin' I would have 'elped."

The Doctor picked up some of the papers off the ground, examining them then tossing them back to the ground. "What makes you so sure aliens are involved?"

Rose stared at him, getting up from the chair she had collapsed in when the Doctor had confirmed her fear that the blood was her husband's. "Could be aliens, could be anyone."

"If it's anyone, then you call the police. Not me."

Rose glared at him. "You've changed," she said darkly. "I came to you 'cause I knew you're my best shot at getting' my husband back."

"You two shouldn't even be here," the Doctor shot back.

"What were we supposed to do?" Rose shouted, her face red. "The cybermen were everywhere. They weren't just convertin' people, they were destroying everythin'. Mum, Dad, everyone dead. The cybermen were working on a way of comin' back here and they succeeded. We just barely managed to come through first and close the rift from this side. Otherwise they would 'ave gotten 'ere too. So don't you _dare _say we don't deserve to be 'ere!"

The Doctor was speechless. "I'm sorry," he said after a long silence. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea." He pulled Rose into a hug, which she resisted at first, then slowly relaxed into. "We will find him," the Doctor whispered in her ear, "I promise you. And he'll be alright. Besides," he pulled back, smiling at Rose, "he's _me_. Wherever he is he'll probably be having a wonderful adventure."

* * *

The meta-crisis Doctor awoke in a dark room, so dark that he only knew it was a room because he could feel one of the walls behind him. John pushed himself to his feet, wincing as he became aware of a deep cut over his eyebrow. That was a potential problem, especially if he had a concussion. One of the disadvantages of being human.

Stumbling forward dizzily, which further confirmed his fear of a possible concussion, he felt around his confines. The room provided just about enough space to pace properly, although with the state of his head John didn't feel like doing much of that. Further examination revealed no evidence of a door, which was disturbing as it left little chance for escape and if he were to be brought out he would probably be beamed out. Of course he might also be in a dwarf star alloy cage which meant the door would only appear when opened from the outside. That would also explain the lack of light. "Well, that's just brilliant."

John thought back on what had happened. It was all a blur. They had come, tried to take him. He had put up a good defense, utterly destroying his study in the process, but one had hit him over the head. Had they gotten Rose too? He wasn't sure, but he didn't think they had. That was a comfort at least. But who had abducted him? He searched his mind for the faces of his attackers. Judoon? None of this was really their style, especially the cage, but maybe the mercenaries had delivered him to their employers. Didn't make much sense, but he distinctly remembered Judoon.

He was lucky to have survived if he had been taken by Judoon. They considered any sort of physical assault, even if it was actually defensive, as punishable by death. And he hadn't gone done without a fight. _That_ he remembered clearly.

Also the Judoon didn't have jurisdiction over Earth. Why hadn't he been transported to somewhere else before being taken? The moon came to mind from previous experience of the race. He was quite confident that he would have noticed being transported to the moon.

Since standing was making his head pound and doing him very little good in return, John sunk to the ground. A little bit of light would be nice. The complete darkness was disconcerting especially since it was silent as a grave yard on a still night. No… that wasn't quite true. There was a vibration, ever so slight. A ship? Good. Ships could be… um… commandeered.

* * *

The Doctor trotted back down stairs, Rose at his heels, heading for the Smith's kitchen where he had left the TARDIS. It might only be a quick ride across town in a car, but the Doctor didn't take cabs. A ride there, a ride back, it simply took too long. Besides he didn't have any money for the driver. Much easier to take the TARDIS.

It was unlocked as Amy and Rory were waiting inside. Rose entered, feeling out of place. She felt a strange sense of loss for the old layout, although she had to admit that the new design was nice in its own way. A bit like the new Doctor. "So do you know what 'apppened to 'im then?" Rose asked.

The Doctor was already by the controls, pulling and pushing a variety of levers and buttons. "Not a clue. Quite literally. Whoever took… um… John was very clever about not leaving a solid leads, despite making a complete mess. Really you should hire a maid." He made pulled down on one final lever and the TARDIS whipped into flight, flinging its passengers around and whooshing loudly.

"Some things never change then," Rose muttered.

"Apparently he leaves the brake on," Amy whispered to the other woman.

"I've been flying her for a lot longer than River has, Pond," the Doctor shouted from where he was at the controls, having overheard the woman's comment.

"If you don't know where your… _duplicate_… is, then where are we going?" Rory interjected. "Also, not clear on the whole duplicate thing. Is he a clone or…?"

The Doctor shot Rory an exasperated look. Wasn't their destination obvious? The Doctor sighed. "We're going to see what happened."

Rory's eyes widened. "Isn't that interfering with past events of something like that?"

"I really don't feel like creating a paradox today thanks," Amy added.

"No interfering, no paradoxes. Just going on a stake out."

"You're getting way too far into this whole detective thing," Amy complained. "You really need to stop reading that mystery series."

"_Melody Melone_? No! I love that series. It's one of the few I haven't read before. Who knows how I missed it until now… Yowza!" he added for good measure, just to annoy Amy a little bit.

It completed its purpose as Amy rolled her eyes.

"He doesn't say 'yowza' now, does 'e?" Rose asked.

"Actually he used to be fond of 'geronimo'. Still is, but 'yowza' seems to be a new favorite."

"'Geronimo'," Rose considered the word for a moment, "S'okay for a catchphrase. Better than 'allons-y' at least."

"He really used to say that?" Amy said, clinging tighter onto the railing as the TARDIS shuddered violently. Amy glanced over at the Doctor to see him frantically pulling at the controls and consulting the scanner. Knowing there was nothing she could do to help fly the ship, she turned her attention. "_Allons-y?_ Really?"

"Yeah," Rose smiled for the first time since John's disappearance, fondly remembering he travels with the Doctor, "it means… um…"

"'Let's go'," the Doctor supplied as the ship shivered to a halt with a grinding, grating sound that almost made it seem as if the TARDIS was ill. "Actually let's not. Better if we stay in here so we don't get seen." He patted the control console as if comforting a tired horse after a hard run. "_That_ could start a paradox."

"Big blue box," Rose said, "not exactly invisible."

"Yes she is. I have her on the stealth setting."

"The TARDIS has a stealth setting?" Rose asked, astonished, "Since when." She thought back on all the times a stealth setting would have come in very handy.

"Has River taught you how to use the scanner properly?" Amy asked the Doctor, remembering the incident in the Oval Office.

He pulled it around, displaying the image on the screen as way of answer. There was a clear view of John's study, prior to getting torn apart. "Have some faith, Amy," the Doctor chastised, softening the statement with a grin. "The scanner's working perfectly and I _did _manage to land, even though the TARDIS was decidedly against the idea. Didn't you notice how she was rocking about? I _have _been flying her for much longer than River has, I'll have you know."

"River? Are you two talkin' 'bout River Song?" Rose asked, wondering how many Rivers the Doctor could possibly know. It was a big universe, but it was still an unusual name.

"Yes, she's my daughter," Amy said.

"And my wife," the Doctor added.

"I know her… well I talked to her. She was the one who told me where to find – hold on! Are you married now?"

"Oi!" the Doctor exclaimed, "Don't act so surprised! I've been married, even before I met you Rose."

"Just never pictured you as the marrying type, that's all."

"You married my copy."

"He's human," Rose reminded him, "You where never very good at expressing your feelings. I'm just a bit put out I didn't get an invite," she joked.

There was suddenly a loud thud from outside, followed by an echo of the sound from the scanner a second later. The Doctor bolted back over to the scanner, grabbing onto it with both hands to stop his momentum from throwing him past it. "Oh, look at that!"

Rory, Rose, and Amy crowded around behind him to get a glimpse of the image on the screen.

"You used to look like him?" Amy asked, impressed. "Why did I have to miss that?"

The Doctor hushed her testily.

John was pinned behind his desk, with bulky creature in spacesuits cornering him on either side. "Judoon," the Doctor said gravely. Rose looked confused by this, as she had never encountered the race in her travels with the Doctor.

Amy opened her mouth to ask exactly what a Judoon would be doing on Earth, but the Doctor was quicker and planted a hand over her mouth. With the other hand he reached out and grabbed Rose's wrist as the Judoon waved a scanner over a protesting John. He didn't want a repeat of the Pete incident.

Seeming to decide that John was in fact who they were looking for, the Judoon made a grab for him. John was both quick and more nimble, slipping away and rolling under the desk. The Judoon reached for him, knocking over the desk in their hurry. A struggle commenced, which would have almost been comical by the amount of furniture being thrown about if not for the seriousness of the situation, finalizing with John being back-handed into the bookshelf and slamming his head on the shelf. He collapsed to the ground, still.

Rose turned to the Doctor burying her face in his jacket and shaking with sobs. He held her tight for a few moments then handed her off to Rory to hold, whispering a "Don't let her go out there."

Without Rose in his arms he was free to make his way around to the other side of the controls, pounding furiously fast on the typewriter. "Any second now, they're going transport out of that room and when they do I'll need to track the signal. Track the signal, track the Judoon. Track the Judoon, track John." With a final resolute key pressed on the typewriter he moved back to scanner to see the result of his efforts. "Ah!" he said with triumph. "Just as I said. They transported. Judoon are so predictable. Look, they're there now," he pointed to a spot on the screen, which had changed to show the map of Earth's upper atmosphere, "That must be their ship, so let's go join the party."


	4. Chapter 4

The Judoon ship was eerily quiet, the only sound being the thudding and wheezing of the TARDIS appearing. As soon as it materialized, the ship was once again silent. The Doctor stepped hesitantly out of the TARDIS. "I don't think anyone's home." It was so quiet that he spoke in a hushed voice, simply because speaking at a normal volume would result in his voice carrying around the ship. And alerting the Judoon to his presence would not be a good thing.

His three companions stepped out behind him, taking in the utilitarian ship they had arrived on. The Doctor headed off in what he was pretty sure was the direction of the ship's brig. Amy, Rory, and Rose followed along after him. Rose caught up to him, falling in step alongside him. "I don't remember these Judoon things. Did we ever meet them when I was travelin' with you? I think I would have 'membered talkin' rhinos."

The Doctor paused midstride, thinking back a few hundred years. "I don't think so, no. Don't worry about that. You haven't missed anything. Basically their just intergalactic guns for hire."

"There was one at Demon's Run. He helped you; I thought the two of you were friends." Amy said, trotting to catch up.

"Actually he just owed me a favor. Normally the Judoon and I don't get along. They enforce laws and I may or may have not broken a few over the last twelve-hundred years."

"Twelve-hundred?" Rose exclaimed, flinching as her voice echoed through the metal corridor. She lowered her voice and continued, "You were just barely over nine-hundred when I knew you."

"I also had two different faces," he reminded her. "But I… shush!" He held a finger to his lips and hushed his companions. A platoon of – a _squad _of Judoon were passing by, their boots clattering on the metal. The Doctor frowned and as soon as the aliens had passed, he turned to the others. "Why didn't we hear them? We should have heard them before they got this close. You," he pointed to Rose. "You should have heard them back at the house. But you didn't. Why? I'm missing something. What am I missing?" He wandered away at this point and his companions took this to mean that he wasn't actually expecting an answer to any of the posed questions.

The Doctor led the way through the ship, into its bowels where the sound of the engines rumbled and growled and the walls were veined with pipes and wires. At least the loud engines were a pleasant change from the eerie silence.

"The brigs should be around here some-" the Doctor cut off in mid-sentence and stopped, causing Amy to bump into him as she had been following close behind. "Hold on, what's that?"

"What is it?" Amy asked testily, watching as the Doctor held up a few of the wires that were hanging from the walls. He was examining the technology, with a mix of worry and horror on his face. He whizzed the sonic screwdriver over the wall, examining the readout without his normal excitement for something new.

"This is all wrong," he said, the skin between his eyebrows creasing into a frown. "All wrong. This isn't Judoon technology… it's almost… No," he shook his head. "That's not possible. Carry on!" He sauntered off down the narrow corridor, leaving his companions to exchange worried looks then hurry after him.

* * *

After doubling back through a few passageways and sneaking past a handful of Judoon guards, the foursome finally found the brig.

Unfortunately they found an empty brig. In fact the barred cage showed no sign of being occupied; John had been bleeding and there was no blood on the floor.

Rose leaned on the bars of the cell, burying her face in her hand. "What do we do now?" a trace of hopelessness was noticeable in her voice.

The Doctor walked over to her, gently holding her. "It's going to be alright," he said quietly. With on finger he lifted her chin so that she was looking up at him, "Trust me."

"When have I ever not?" Rose whispered.

The Doctor squeezed her shoulders comfortingly and somewhat awkwardly, like an acquaintance trying to make you feel better but not quite knowing how. But they were most definitely more than just acquaintances. She was one of his oldest friends, and that was part of the problem. Her memory was one of the things he had been running from for so long. "My sweet Rose," he said so quietly, his voice was barely audible, "you always have. You've always trusted me. You really shouldn't do that, but thank you."

She flashed him a quick smile, "So, what now?"

The Doctor spun on his heels, slapping his hands together and grinning widely. "No idea! But I'm working on that. I do know one thing, the Judoon aren't the ones behind this. Well they are. But they're not. Not really, their just working for the ones behind all this. Yet they're not acting normally, not for Judoon. That might be important, might not. I don't need to think about that right now. What I need to do… What I need to do is," he walked over to a computer console and pulled out his screwdriver, "this!"

"What's this?" Rory asked.

The Doctor looked up, with an expression on his face that said "Really Rory? Haven't you figured it out yet?" instead he decided to explain, taking a deep, long suffering sigh. "We didn't hear the platoon of Judoon, Rose didn't hear them when John was taken," he paused to see if his companions would catch on. "All those wires are hooked up to create minor disturbances, putting a pocket of time out of sync with the rest."

"Is that possible?" Amy asked.

"Of course," the Doctor said, "Just a second out of sync. It's easy: Time Lords figured it out long before even TARDISes were invented. Nearly all of the races involved in the Time War had mastered it. It's a precursor to time travel in most societies. Anyway-"

Rose interrupted, "The Time War? One of the races from the Time War don't have somethin' to do with this, do they? They're all gone, aren't they?"

The Doctor was silent for a moment and Rose realized guiltily that she had hit a nerve. "Most of them, yes," the Doctor said slowly. "We should get back to the TARDIS." He turned around to find a gun pointed at his face. "Or not…"

* * *

There was a bright flash of light and John found himself in an expansive room, unmistakably a hospital, like the one on New Earth that he and Rose – alright, technically the _Doctor_ and Rose – had visited. Although this hospital was more of a prison, and from his situation, most likely it was. The windows were blackened out, letting only the most meager amount of light in. Shadows darkened the lobby of the building, once housing the soon to be well and now housing the hopelessly dying.

There weren't many occupants, at least not that he could see. Most were huddled in corners, keeping each other warm while draped under thin blankets. It was like a refugee camp, the eyes of every soul filled with horrors.

A woman rushed over to him. Her skin was taught over shallow cheek bones and her emaciated ribs just poked out from under what must have once been a pretty blouse, still barely retaining a green tinge. She moved surprisingly nimbly for her starving state, crouching to the ground next to him and taking no time to examine the cut above his eye.

"It's alright. I'm supposed to fix you," she said.

John eyed her cautiously, but allowed her to help him to his feet although her surprising strength could likely have lifted him with or without his consent. "Fix me?"

The woman blinked, "I don't know why I said that. Heal you. I meant heal you. I'm supposed to heal you. Come with me they say."

As John saw it he had two options. He could go with the crazy lady who wanted to "fix him" or he could refuse to go with her and stay where he was. However the cut above his eye was becoming more than a nuisance and was quite definitely the source of his sickening dizziness when he stood. Besides what was the point of staying where he was? Nothing to be learned sitting around. "So where exactly are we?" he inquired, following along behind her as she led him to a lift.

"I don't know," the woman said, a confused and disoriented look appearing suddenly on her face then vanishing again as quick as it had appeared, "Wait, yes I do! We are here. We are where we are. This way!" The lift opened and she stepped out, striding off down the hallway, her bare, callused feet slapping on the floor.

"That doesn't really answer my question." He decided to try another approach. "Who are you? What's your name?"

The woman stopped, considering this for a moment. "Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"Linsey, that was my name once. And you're wrong. It really doesn't matter. Now we're wasting time. I'm supposed to heal you they said. It's all in my head. You're important. I'm supposed to heal you so you'll be strong enough for them."


	5. Chapter 5

They had been placed in a dark room, just big enough for all of them to fit inside albeit slightly crowded against each other. The door had sealed behind them, so that even the sonic screwdriver couldn't get it open now. Not that the Doctor hadn't tried. There was about an hour of constant whirling from the screwdriver, which had accomplished nothing except to give everyone a headache, followed by another twenty of him yelling at the device – "It's not even wood!" – until he had finally realized that the door was a hopeless cause. He was now using the sonic solely as a flashlight to provide them with a bit more light.

Amy and Rory had retreated to a corner of the little room, out of the way of the Doctor, who was pacing back and forth, taking about two steps in one direction before turning and going the other way. He had stepped on Rose's foot at least twice so she had taken to squishing herself against the wall to avoid his shoes.

"There has to be something I'm missing. Something big. Something right in front of my eyes that I'm not seeing. Something like… no… the Judoon don't behave like this. It's all wrong."

As the Doctor stomped on her foot yet again, Rose rolled her eyes and decided to sit with Amy and Rory, who seemed to have found the only spot in the small room where they wouldn't get trampled. "The old Doctor would have figured a way out of 'ere," Rose muttered.

"He will," Amy hissed back defensively. "He always does."

Rose shrugged, "He always _did_. He's different now." And he was different. She knew this Doctor was the same man she had always known, at least underneath. But that still didn't change the fact that this man was simply different. He was distant and had gone far past the point of simply _verging_ on being mad. It wasn't just his face that had changed; it was the way he moved, the way he talked. She felt guilty for thinking such a thing, but it was like he had been broken and put together just a little bit wrong. _Was I the one that broke him?_

Amy opened her mouth to shoot back a snarky comeback in the Doctor's defense when light shone into the room. The door had opened and a figure was silhouetted in the blinding light. The woman stepped forward, a flirtatious smile on her lips. "Hello sweetie!"

* * *

Linsey stared at John expectantly, gesturing to an empty surgery bed that was positioned at the center of the room. The room she had taken him to was pristine, sterile white walls lit with bright electronic lighting, so very different from the rest of the rundown hospital. John glanced at where she wanted him to lay down, a flat bed that looked like the cross between a gurney and a medieval torture device. "Nah, I'm good thanks. I'll just bleed," he dabbed a finger on the cut over his eye, twinging at the stinging this caused, and examined the resulting blood on the digit. "See," he held up the finger for her to examine, "No brains. I'll be fine. But I really don't like the look of," he gestured to the hospital bed, "_that_."

"You will allow me to heal you," Linsey insisted.

"Why are you so insistent?"

Linsey cocked her head to the side, "I do not know. It is my purpose."

"You seem to not know a lot of things, Linsey."

"I must heal you. They want you to be healed so that they may use your energy."

"Ah," John said, not liking where this was going, "Now we're getting somewhere. Now Linsey concentrate. Who is 'they'?"

Linsey began to reply then gasped, clutching at her head. John started back in alarm, then hurriedly went to her side. "I have said too much," she gasped. "They are punishing me. My masters!" she wept, "I am sorry!" Suddenly her voice changed completely becoming less pitiful and more confident, "No! I'm not sorry! You need to run, John Smith. They need you and if they get you they destroy everything. They only sent you here to hide you and to fix you. You must run! Don't let them find… ah!" She collapsed to the ground, shaking with a frailty that matched her gaunt form. "Oh, they were what was keeping me strong, I see that now. But it doesn't matter." She clutched at her head, panting, "Their trying to take control completely. They weren't controlling me entirely before. They left just enough room for me to resist, but I won't be able to hold on for long, so listen! Before they didn't want you to understand, or they would have let you see. That's important. You must understand. They sent you here because they thought you would be unable to escape until they were ready for you and you for them. They want your energy for the final step – the final step of what, I don't know. But you must escape them. Listen. Listen! They don't know this, but there is a passage of tunnels under the building. Go to the… ah!" She squinted her eyes shut and clawed at her forehead as if there was something under the skin. "Go to the lift. Bottom floor," she pressed something small and cold into his hand, "here is the key. Go!" With one last ounce of strength she pushed him towards the door.

John shook his head, "You're coming with me. I'm not leaving you here."

"I'm dying, and as soon as I am dead they will take me again. Now go! Leave me!"

* * *

John stepped out of the lift, turning the keycard Linsey had given him over and over in his hand. He had expected the card to open a door, but instead he found himself standing on what, on Earth, would have been compared to a train station. Except, instead of trains, there were little pods, all clustered in the center of the room like candies at the top of a gumball machine.

John hurried over to one, running his fingers over the door until he found a slot into which he slid the card. With a welcoming whoosh, the door slid open revealing a luxurious interior, just big enough to comfortably fit one person, maybe two at a squeeze. "Oh, clever. Very clever," he said, stepping inside and sitting down.

As soon as he was settled, the door snapped shut and a monotone, but pleasant, recorded female voice said "Input destination."

John looked around for an interface, and finding none simply said, "Away from here."

"Destination unknown. Please try again."

John rolled his eyes, a nasty habit he had picked up from Donna. Most of her personality had faded after a while, but he still noticed some peeking through once in a while. Although, he wasn't sure if this was because of the meta-crisis or because of the time he had spent with her. Or rather the time the _Doctor_ had spent with her. "Show me all possible destinations. Can you do that?"

"Processing," said the voice, and a second later a list of addresses appeared, hovering in the air in front of him. "These are all destinations within the New London area. For more destinations outside of New London you must transfer to alternative system at one of these transfer points." A new set of addresses flashed up.

"No that's okay," John said. "How about that museum?" he pointed to one of the addresses. "I like museums."

"The New British Museum. Is this your destination?"

"Humans! You lot really aren't that creative when it comes to choosing names, are you?"

"I am not human. I am BubblePod Interface Unit number sixty-three."

"The New British Museum will be just fine, BubblePod Interface Unit number 63. Now would you get a move on please? I'm sort of running away from someone. I don't who I'm running from. But I'm running away from them anyway. It's that sort of day."

"Destination selected. Transit in progress. Please enjoy our selection of old Earth classics and thank you for choosing BubblePod for your transportation needs."

John groaned as a teen pop song, overrated even in the 21st century, began pounding through the pod. Just great. It really was turning out to be one of _those_ sorts of days.


	6. Chapter 6

A viewing port rolled open showing John the building outside. The pod halted at the gates of a near perfect replica of the original British Museum, except this one had huge chunks broken away and most of the windows broken. The Interface's voice announced "We have arrived at your requested location. Museum closed for unknown reason. Would you care to select an alternative destination?"

"No thanks, didn't really want to go here. Just wanted to get away from there. Although I do like museums. Could you let me out now, please?"

"Payment required."

_Oh, well that might be problematic_. "Never mind then. I'll just stay here then," a sonic screwdriver or psychic paper would come in hand right about now.

"Pod is required for other passengers. Please fulfill transaction and then vacate vehicle."

"Alright, alright. Give me a minute. Tell me, can you access city records?"

"City records available. What is your query?"

"Where is everyone? Other than the hospital we just left, where is everyone?"

"Scanning, please enjoy our complementary music for a few moments."

"Don't you dare!"

BubblePod Interface Unit number 63 didn't seem to care whether or not John cared for crappy pop music and proceeded to play it anyway. John ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath.

"Information found. Excluding New Life Hospital, humanoid population of New London area is zero."

"What? No one? How is that possible?"

"Population zero."

"Alright, yes I got that." John thought fast, "so something happened to them, something dangerous. Emergency protocol, I'm in danger…erm… let me out?"

The Interface was silent for a few moments, then replied "Emergency protocol four enacted. Doors opening. A charge will be sent to your place of residence. We hope you enjoyed your transit with BubblePod."

* * *

"Hello sweetie," River stood in the doorway of the dwarf star alloy prison, her figure perfectly silhouetted.

The Doctor's heart's leapt. River had a wonderful habit of turning up when he needed her and vice versa. In the wide universe there was no one he could be more pleased to see at that very moment. "River! Nice timing. How did you find us?"

"I heard there were two of you and I thought to myself 'This I must see'. So I tracked you down, wasn't that hard. This must be the famous Rose," she looked Rose up and down, unimpressed.

"Ah!" the Doctor exclaimed, "River, this is Rose. Rose this is River." He grabbed each of the women's hands, so that they had little more than any choice but to shake hands. The Doctor grinned excitedly as if one of his greatest desires had just been granted.

"Hi," Rose said. "We talked before."

"Yes, we did," River answered in a tone similar to one used when telling a child that "Yes, two and two _are_ four, very good." She released Rose's hand and turned to the Doctor. "Are we just going to stay here exchanging pleasantries all day, sweetie?"

The Doctor's eyebrows shot up, "I suppose not. No, no, probably not the _best _plan. Onward! River I don't suppose you can give us a short cut to the TARDIS."

She considered this a moment then smirked impishly, "Do you want to travel by vortex manipulator, or," she held up her gun, "go by hole in the wall?"

"Let's not blow holes in the spaceship."

"First time I've heard you say that. Manipulator it is then," she held out her arm for everyone to grab onto. All did, Rose a little hesitantly, and in a sickening flash reminiscent of a Portkey in Harry Potter they appeared in the hallway next to the TARDIS.

Rose groaned. "You could have warned me," She looked down at the device in distaste. "Didn't Jack have one of those things?"

"They're common," the Doctor said, unlocking the TARDIS. "A bit like a bicycle with a flat wheel compared to the TARDIS," he patted the side of the wood paneling fondly then swung open the door. "Everybody in."

Amy caught hold of River's wrist as she went passed, pulling her daughter into a hug. River smiled warmly, removing herself from her mother's arms to embrace Rory also. "I was hoping you'd be with the Doctor. Let me see, you at the cubes, correct?"

Amy nodded. "Suppose you aren't going to tell us what they are and save us the trouble of finding out for ourselves?" River opened up her mouth to speak, but Amy beat her to it. "Right, 'spoilers', sorry. Where are you? Have you done Stonehenge yet?" Amy asked.

River nodded, "Yes, a while ago."

Rory was just about to ask his daughter a question when the Doctor pushed through into the center of the little group. "Excuse me ladies."

Rory cleared his throat.

"And Rory," the Doctor added. "River I need to talk to you," he noticed that neither Rory nor Amy was moving, "Privately." He waited until Amy and Rory had wandered off and then turned back to River, "Alright. How did you find us?"

River sighed, "So much for thank you!"

The Doctor flashed her a small smile and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Thank you. Now how did you find us?"

"That's better." River produced a plain white envelope from within her jacket, "I found this a day or two after Cockney accent over there managed to call me." She handed the Doctor the envelope. "Recognize the hand writing?"

"Of course I do," the Doctor said, reading the note. "It's mine." It was a simple date and spatial coordinates, along with a short message:

_Look in the black box!_

_P.S. New Earth_

"But I haven't written it yet. I'll have to remember to do that. Now that last bit…" the Doctor grinned boyishly, his floppy hair falling in his eyes as he turned and barreled up to the controls. He brushed them out of his face, an overly ecstatic look on his face. "Rose! We're going back to New Earth!"

"Why?" Rose asked, confused by the sudden change in plans.

"Because," the Doctor said, "I said so!"

* * *

Rory wasn't quite sure what New Earth was, he guessed it was a planet, although it sounded more like the name of some bizarre cult. It was assumedly somewhere the Doctor had been to with Rose, back when she had traveled with him.

The Doctor was dancing around the controls, and was so intent on what he was doing Rory had to jump out of his way to avoid being slammed into. "What is New Earth?" Rory asked.

"Exactly what is sounds like!" the Doctor said, reaching over and flipping a switch. He nearly toppled over as the TARDIS shivered and grabbed at the console to steady himself. "Lovely planet, more weird goings-on than the original. One of my favorites."

"Alright, thanks," Rory muttered, "That makes a lot of sense."

"So if it's one of your favorites, why have you never taken us?" Amy questioned leaning on the console and staring expectantly at the Doctor.

He gulped, avoiding her eyes. "Well," he pulled the word out slowly to give himself time to formulate an answer. "I went there a lot last time. You know me, I don't like repeats."

"You just said you went there a lot before," Rory pointed out.

The Doctor sighed and turned to the Ponds, "That was before. I told you I don't like repeats, well I don't like repeats _now_." He turned away, his attention once more on piloting the TARDIS. "Places hold memories," he said quietly, barely loud enough for anyone to hear, "and I don't like to be reminded."

The Doctor had spoken very quietly, but still Rose overheard. She watched him until he glanced up and they locked eyes. "M'sorry," she mouthed.

The Doctor frowned, glanced at the Ponds and River then turned back to Rose, "Why are _you_ sorry?" he mouthed back.

Rose leaned over putting a hand on the Doctor's shoulder, noting how he tensed at the touch. "I'm the one you don't want to be reminded of, aren't I?" she whispered.

He set his jaw, then took a deep breath and forced a smile, "What would make you say that?"


	7. Chapter 7

John stepped through the open doors of the New British Museum. He picked his way through the entry, clambering over a ruined pillar and a toppled collection box. The museum's lobby, pieces of the glass roof shattered on the ground, was eerily quiet.

Of all the places he could have ended up, a museum was preferable to a majority of other places. This museum was an exact replica of the original, even down to the dedication to Queen Elizabeth inscribed on the huge reading room in the center. The highly defensible reading room. Books might be the best weapons in the universe, but he was more interested in the thick walls and the sturdy wooden doors.

He made his way up the steps and pushed open the large wooden doors with some difficulty as it was blocked with a toppled bookcase. It was painful to see the books torn apart; whatever had destroyed this place had no respect for culture.

But they were torn apart now anyway, so there was no harm in grabbing a few loose papers and soaked them in the drinking fountain in the corner. John pressed the wet sheets to his bloody forehead. He sunk to the ground with a sigh, the cold calming the agonizing panging that had been tormenting his head for… how long had it been since he was taken? He wasn't sure.

There was a rustling from the darkness and John sat up, eyes wide, the pounding returning. He squinted in the direction of the mysterious sound and realized that he was seeing double. Maybe he should have let Linsey patch him up, preferable to being in a fog from the concussion which by this point he was completely convinced was real.

The rustling grew nearer and John pulled himself up to his feet, grabbing a large book and holding it over his shoulder threateningly. "Whoever is there, I should warn you I'm…" he glanced at the book, sighing, "_armed_."

A bird shot out of the toppled bookshelves, making its way a few times around the room before disappearing through a crack in the ceiling. John dropped the book, flinching as it thudded to the ground a bit too close to his foot for comfort. Afraid of a bird! A _bird!_ He would have never been afraid of a _bird_ as the Doctor, unless it was some sort of evil alien bird as that did happen.

* * *

"Welcome to New Earth!" the Doctor said, backing out of the TARDIS so he could see his companions' reactions and spreading his arms widely to display the view of the majestic city of New New York.

His companions' expressions weren't exactly what he was hoping. River was wearing a bemused expression, while her parents were holding off giggles. Rose was staring at the landscape sadly, "It's not exactly like I 'membered."

The Doctor frowned, turning around. "Oh," he looked at the ruined landscape in confusion. "When did this happen?" His mouth was slightly open, "I've been here in a few thousand years and it's supposed to be fine. All happy, all tall buildings, and shiny flying cars. They'd even fixed the traffic problem."

"Yeah, I think traffic is the least of their problems." Amy said, looking at the toppled towers of the once beautiful city. "So New New York, not as futuristic as I thought it would be. Just sort of dirty and broken down… actually not much unlike the original."

"This isn't broken down Amy," the Doctor said, "this is destroyed." He turned tromping back into the TARDIS. "Not exactly a vacation destination right now, so let's skip the nice tourist trip bit and skip to the finding John bit." He activated the scanner, typing in a few search parameters. "Hmm… that's odd… there should be…"

River gently moved him out of the way, sitting him down in the plush chair off to the side of the controls. The Doctor crossed his arms and pouted while River consulted the scanner. "But there's no one here. Not a single life sign in the entire city." Her eyes widened, "But there is a lot of motion out there. No life, but something's out there." She glanced at the Doctor, "Angels?"

He shook his head, "Checked for those."

River nodded, thought for a moment, then typed in a new search.

The Doctor bounced up, leaning in next to her. "River… please don't break my TARDIS."

"I'm not breaking your TARDIS, sweetie. I'm just widening the search grid... The planet's empty." She moved over so that the Doctor could have a closer look.

"No, it isn't," the Doctor said, grateful to finally get a leg up when it came to controlling the TARDIS. The completion between he and she would most-likely be described as unhealthy; there was a reason he hadn't gone to visit Freud for a while. It wasn't the Doctor's fault that the TARDIS had taken it upon herself to teach River how to fly. Of course she'd be good at it; it was like being taught to ride a horse by a horse. Which was incidentally how the Doctor had learned to ride. And he rode a horse much better than River did, so they were even. No… not really. A time travel machine was a bit harder to control than a horse.

The Doctor pointed to a tiny blimp on the screen, halfway across the planet. "Right there. There's life right there."

River leaned in close to the screen, making a big show of squinting at the tiny bundle of pixels. "I think that's a tree."

Paying no mind to this, the Doctor was already busying himself at the controls. "Quick hop, hold on tight. Everybody inside and close the door after you!"

* * *

The TARDIS came to a halt as close to the life form readings as it was possible to get, as the signal was weak and hard to lock onto. The TARDIS doors swung open and the Doctor put a foot outside – saved from falling to his death only by River grabbing a fistful of his jacket at the last moment. The Doctor retracted his foot and gapped down at the precipice below them. From where it was perched on two crossbeams of a tattered building, there was a fall of at least four stories under the TARDIS. The Doctor gulped. "Right, okay then. I'll go get a rope."

"Or we could just move the TARDIS," Rory pointed out.

The Doctor stared at him, "Why would we want to do that? The TARDIS is safe up here. Besides, this will be fun!" He scurried off to the compartment nestled under the stairs that led up to the other rooms and, after a loud crashing that seemed to only miss the yowl of a cat, returned a few minutes later with a flimsy looking rope.

Amy considered the thin, threadbare rope for a moment, "So, I'll just stay here then."

"Why would you want to do that?" The Doctor asked, genuinely confused at why the adventurous Amy Pond would wish to sit this trip out. He followed her gaze down to the rope in his hands, "Oh don't be worried about this. Pure Cosranian silk. Strongest fabric in the galaxy. You could use this rope to tow a spaceship and I have."

Amy didn't look convinced, but she sighed, which the Doctor took as an agreement. "Don't look at me like that, Pond. We only have to get down to that level there, then we can take the stairs. Maybe even the lift. Right then. Ladies first. River, you take Rose down, then Amy you go, then Rory and me."

River had already taken an end of the rope and was leaning out of the TARDIS securing it to a nearby beam. She tugged at it, "That should hold."

The Doctor tugged at it, just to be sure, "Alright… Geronimo!"

* * *

"I've missed this," Rose said, looking up at River, who was slightly above her on the rope. "Climbin' around and runnin' and all the craziness. You're in the TARDIS and everythin' is adventures and then suddenly it's just calm and normal, like none of it ever happened. I've missed it."

River glanced down at her, quickly brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes and then replacing her hand on the rope before she could fall. "Nothing's ever been normal for me. Normal would be a bore."

They were alternating between climbing and being lowered down, more on the being lowered down side as the thin rope was hard to climb. Nearing the mostly whole second floor, it was becoming increasingly obvious that getting back up to the TARDIS would be the tricky bit. But then again, as per the saying, they would cross that bridge when they came to it. At the moment the main concern was not being battered against the few remaining standing walls. River twisted around and kicked off of a wall just in time to avoid being slammed into it. She glared up at the three remaining in the TARDIS. "I'm not enjoying this sweetie! Not exactly the way I like to get bruised!"

The Doctor shouted something back, but she wasn't sure if it was a witty comeback or a protest as it sounded something reminiscent of "The seam is tacky!"

"What?" River strained to hear the Doctor's words, which were being whipped away be the wind.

He tried again and this time it sounded like he had shouted "Your scream is fleeting!"

River growled in frustration and looked down at Rose, "Did you catch any of that?"

The Doctor had abandoned trying to communicate with River and Rose and had turned his attention to the point where the rope was tied to the beam, frantically running his sonic over it. Amy and Rory had taken up the call, and their combined voices were just enough to carry down to the two below.

"The beam is cracking!"


	8. Chapter 8

Almost as soon as River heard the warning did the beam above them visibly give way. They lurched down a few feet causing Rose to shriek in surprise as the view of what was happening above her was blocked.

The Doctor was frantic, holding onto the breaking beam with his bare hands. Then with a crack, the beam splintered and split, slipping from the Doctor's grasp. He grasped at thin air. Amy and Rory were doing all they could to keep him from falling, both with a firm grip on him jacket.

The last thing River heard as she slammed against the ground below, crashing through the thin second floor, was the Doctor's voice. A single scream, but she wasn't sure if he was screaming for her… or for Rose.

* * *

The Doctor watched, both his hearts beating hard, as the beam fell to the ground taking both of the two women with it. It seemed as if their fall would be stopped by the remains of the building's second floor, but instead it collapsed at their touch and they disappeared into a billow of dust. "No!" The Doctor exclaimed, reaching down as if he could reach to pull them back.

Becoming aware that he was hanging precariously over the edge of the doorframe, he allowed himself to be pulled back inside. He watched, through a mist of shock, as Amy and Rory closed the door.

Amy's face was red and streaks streamed down her cheeks from tears. "'The _TARDIS _will be safe up here,'" Amy spat, "'It will be _fun!_'"

"I don't think I used those exact words," the Doctor corrected, immediately regretting doing so as Amy grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close so that they were nose to nose.

"Tell me River's alive," she hissed. "Tell me she's alright."

The Doctor detached himself from her grasp. He gently put a hand on Amy's cheek, which she shied away from. "Listen to me," he said soothingly, "I know for a fact that she is alive. River Song does not die here, I promise you that. And I am not going to lose her or Rose like this."

He could see from the look in Amy's eyes that she wasn't buying any of this. "This is all your fault," she said, her voice breaking. "You should have just taken us down in the TARDIS, if you had, they would have been fine. They would have been fine, but no. You had to insist we climb down, just for the fun of it!"

"I know," the Doctor said, "I know that, alright?" He had risked his friends for the sake of the TARDIS, even though she would have been just as much at risk from whatever could cause this much damage to an entire world whether she had been perched high above or on the ground below. Amy was right; he had made the decision for the fun of it. Because he had never propelled down from the TARDIS before, at least not under these circumstances, and it was something gloriously new. And now two of those most dear to him were hurt because of it. "I'm sorry."

* * *

Rose coughed, sitting up painfully. Everything hurt; if asked at that moment, Rose might have gone so far as to say that even her _hair_ hurt.

Dust was settling, having been turned up when they broke through the floor above, which was now little more than a few planks and chunks of tile surrounding her. The rope, still tied securely to the beam, was strewn on the ground around her. Squinting through the haze, Rose searched the rubble for River.

There seemed to be no trace of her, until Rose noticed a pale hand sticking out of a pile of rubble. Hold her sleeve over her face to avoid chocking on the duct, Rose picked her way over to the other woman. She tossed a few scraps off of River's body and then knelt next to the woman. "River? Um… are you alright? Can you 'ear me?"

River sat up, rubbing the back of her head. "Yes, I can _hear_ you." She blinked up at the hole they had fallen through. "I always manage to get hurt when I'm around that man," she said fondly. "I _really_ hate him sometimes."

For a short moment she wondered if the Doctor had just involuntarily shouted out "No you don't!" and was now wondering why he had done so.

* * *

John snapped awake, sitting up abruptly. He gazed around his surroundings, the memories of where he was and what had happened flooding back. He cursed himself for falling asleep, but the rest did have the benefit of stopping the pounding in his head, which was of some blessing at least.

What little light had been streaming into the room from the cracks in the ceiling was gone; it was night outside. Double full moons were visible through one of the damaged ceiling tiles, however, and the twin moons, like the eyes of the Cheshire Cat staring down at him, provided a bluish light.

John pulled himself off the ground picking the now dry scrap of paper off his forehead, flinching as it was stuck to the dried blood on his scabbing wound. Discarding the paper he crossed the room. Slipping under a toppled bookshelf and a broken table, he kneeled by a pile of books and wood shelves. Underneath was a blinking light which was what he had noticed from across the room. He had expected something metal, but was rewarded by something better; a computer console that had been ripped from the wall, its wires still attached. The touch screen, although slightly cracked, was still operational.

Oh this was a treat! John sat on the pile of junk and put the screen in his lap. It would have been so much easier with a sonic screwdriver, but after about twenty minutes of fiddling, he managed to hack it to access the general webbase, the descendant of the 21st century internet.

He started to lay out a search for recent news articles, hoping that he would come across information on what had happened, when a face popped up on the screen.

It was a woman, the virtual female reporter he remembered from the incident with the traffic problem and the Doctor's last encounter with the Face of Boe. If she was on the screen, then there was no one left in the news stations. From experience, reporters tended to be the last to run away when a planet was being attacked.

The blonde on the screen smiled warmly. "Hello, I'm Sally Calypso. If you are receiving this automated signal then be warned that the planet of New Earth had been put under quarantine by the Council. All space-craft should navigate around New Earth space until the quarantine is lifted." A smaller image appeared over her left shoulder. "This message was recorded by Governor Wesh."

The smaller image zoomed over Sally's. A man's face appeared on the screen, assumedly Governor Wesh. He was wearing a battered cloak of fine silk and a threaded turban. Behind him was a room, its original purpose unidentifiable by the devastation that had been reaped on it. "Their everywhere!" he shouted over heavy fire. "They came from the skies, we didn't see them on scanners until it was too late. They just appeared. The Council are all dead, I'm the last one." He moved off the screen and reappeared a few seconds later. "I've placed the planet on lock down. Don't come here! New Earth is lost. Don't…!" Wesh was cut off by an energy burst that zapped through his whole body, illuminating his bones.

John recognized it immediately, with a sickening clench of the gut. There was only one being that had weapons like that; the Daleks.


	9. Chapter 9

"What is she doing?" the Doctor exclaimed as the TARDIS shot into the air and spun about. Amy and Rory were clutching onto the railing for all they were worth. The Doctor had only tried to move the TARDIS to the ground below to find River and Rose, but they had been pulled off course. Suddenly he stopped what he was doing to stop the ship, his arms dropping to his sides. "The TARDIS isn't doing this… it's almost like… No!" He turned and ran to the scanner. "Their pulling us in. I can try to escape the beam, but..."

"Doctor!" Amy shouted, interrupting his rant. "What is going on? Who is controlling the TARDIS?"

"Don't know that yet, Pond. Have an idea, but I'll know for sure in a few moments. When we end up wherever we're being taken."

"Helpful," Rory commented.

"Not really…" the Doctor said, continuing to pound at the unresponsive controls in frustration. Suddenly the ship stopped rocking about.

"What did you do?" Amy asked in relief.

The Doctor gulped, "I didn't. We've arrived. Shall we greet our nice hosts?"

* * *

The doors were blocked by the large amount rubble that had fallen from the floor above, but one door was hanging halfway off its hinges, making it easy for the two women to squeeze out into the abandoned street outside. They looked up just in time to see the TARDIS zipping away into the clouds.

"What is he doing?" River growled.

Rose's mouth was hanging open in shock, "He wouldn't just leave us, would he?"

River's eyes narrowed, "No he wouldn't. We should get out of the open." She considered the building out of which they had just walked. No, too big of a hole in the roof; it wasn't defendable. River strode down the street, her hand hovering over her gun. Something about the silent street disturbed her, and the feeling wasn't simply due to the wreckage.

"I wish I still had the TARDIS keys, at least then we'd know when he's coming back," Rose said, trotting along after her.

River stopped in her tracks, "He gave you a key? He gave you a key to the TARDIS?" Well, he would hear her opinion on _that _when next she saw him. He didn't trust her; that was the only explanation. He didn't trust her, after all he'd been through, he didn't trust her. Granted she had tried to kill him… several times… but that wasn't her fault. She had been brain-washed the first time and the second time she had no control over the gun. Really not her fault. By now he should trust her. Yet he had never given her a TARDIS key. But he had given a key to Rose. Simple, ordinary, not-married-to-him Rose.

As if trying to rub the fact in, Rose then replied, "Where's yours?"

"Left it in the pocket of my other jacket," River lied. "Now, seeing as the Doctor has decided to go on a joyride, shall we return to the hiding plan?"

"Right, well 'ow 'bout over there?" Rose suggested, pointing to one of the few buildings on the street still standing. It looked like it had been a theatre of some sort, there was a holographic projection advertising a movie flickering on and off. It reminded Rose of the _Jaws_ scene in _Back to the Future_, except a few million years after when the movie had predicted.

River was already on the way to the door. She shook at the door and, finding it locked, whisked out her gun and zapped away an opening for them to get inside.

"You carry a gun?" Rose questioned.

River shrugged, "I found it on the TARDIS ages from now, knew the Doctor wouldn't want it so I borrowed it." She ducked through the makeshift door she had made in the theatre wall.

Rose followed, "You _stole_ it?"

"No, no I actually _borrowed _it." River said, glancing back at her, "Not saying that I wouldn't steal something, I have, but I wouldn't steal from the Doctor. Not if I didn't have to… I'm still working on getting him to trust me since I killed him…"

Rose stared at her in horror, "'kay… No wonder 'e doesn't trust you. "

"It wasn't like that," River protested, pointing her gun at the wall and resealing the hole, "It wasn't _my_ fault. As I was saying, he gave in rather easily. About the gun I mean. I think he'd seen me with it before, and didn't think it worth making a paradox over."

They were in a large lobby. Two sets of escalators, now stopped, were disguised as a pair of ornate spiral staircases, all silver and shine. Apparently people in the future were too lazy to actually climb a flight of steps, but liked things to look snazzy. That being said, not much had changed.

"So," Rose said, "let me get this straight. The Doctor 'ate's guns, but you carry a gun, which I think used to be Jack's…"

"Whose?" River glanced back confused as she trotted up the steps, taking them three at a time. She checked the doors on the upper floor, "All clear."

"And you killed the Doctor," Rose continued as River walked back down the stairs and sat at the base, "but whatever 'appened is in his past and he's alive."

"It's _really_ a long story," River said, "And I don't know most of it. I think you've got the idea that I'm a time traveler, well we're going in opposite directions, the Doctor and I. His past is my future and my past is… you get the idea."

"Wouldn't that make a paradox? Lots of 'em?"

"We're more careful than that, unlike you… don't think I haven't heard, saving your dad and almost destroying the Earth."

"He told you 'bout that?" Rose asked embarrassedly, sitting next to River.

River smirked. "He tells me everything. Or at least, he will." She stood, "Where is he? I don't like this. Sitting around, it's boring. I had enough of sitting around back in my cell."

"So you were in prison?"

"Just got out," River said, "The man I was accused of killing erased himself from the records. _Really _confused my guards. But eventually they came to the conclusion that I really was there for no reason and they let me go. Even gave me back my vortex manipulator, better than giving me a ride to the nearest inhabited world I suppose."

"I _have_ missed a lo- hold on! Vortex manipulator? That vanishy thing that can take you places."

"'Vanishy?' Really?" A look of comprehension dawned on River's face, "Oh! Ugh, why did you think of that before I did?"

* * *

John had set the damaged computer to alert him to any approaching life signs, hacking into the city sensors. He had expected to have a while to take stock of his surroundings, not to have the painfully sharp buzzing go off after less than ten minutes. "Quiet!" he flipped off the alert, as if it was an alarm clock that had just awoken him before the sun was up.

"What did you find?" he asked the computer, than realized that the computer, although it may have had a voice interface at one point, could not hear him and that he was essentially talking to himself. And he really didn't care, it was better than silence. "Oh, that's good. That's _really_ good."

The sensors had picked up on the sudden appearance of five life signs along with something that the computer couldn't identify, but that was unmistakably the TARDIS. John grinned, "Brilliant! Oh, brilliant! Computer, I forgive you for beeping annoyingly at me."

With a smile, John tossed aside the computer, it's purpose served. The place where the TARDIS had landed wasn't far, at least if he were to travel by bubble again. As it seemed, his cab was waiting for him in the form of a very blue box.


	10. Chapter 10

"Are you going to open the door or just stand there?" Amy said, trotting down the steps to stand by the Doctor.

"Amy," he said, working hard to keep his voice level and calm, "look outside." He grabbed her arm as she made to open the door, "Through the window, Pond!"

"Right," she said, going up on tiptoe to peek out the glass. "But those are…"

"Now do you understand why I wasn't opening the door?" the Doctor said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Right now I'm trying to figure out what possible want they have for me. So I'll stay in here for the time being, thanks."

Rory squeezed in between, "What's out there?" his eyes widened as he saw the sight out the window and he gulped, going pale. "Staying in here. Staying in here sounds good."

"Daleks?" Amy hissed. "How can they be Daleks? The Daleks' all forgot you."

"Oh, but they're clever. All they know is that they have a TARDIS, occupancy three. Can't see inside, not in detail at least. So as far as they are concerned, a Time Lord and a TARDIS. Nice prize for a Dalek. The gold. Which means we're in more danger than we would have been if they did know me."

"Why's that?" Rory questioned, leaning against the door to have another look outside. The Daleks, a mix-match of the colorful new strain and the old tin cans, were surrounding the TARDIS in a semi-circle. Weapons raised and primed to shoot.

Their voices grating and metallic, the Daleks screamed in unison: "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

* * *

_Flash!_

"Where are we?" Rose asked, releasing River's arm as the effects of the temporal-spatial shift wore away. She quickly grabbed back on as she noticed where they were; precariously standing five floors above the ground, the wind whipping at them.

Hurriedly, River switched the settings back. They now stood where they had fallen a while before, amongst the debris of the destroyed building. "That was supposed to take us back to the TARDIS."

"And instead it took us where the TARDIS was," Rose said, looking up at the beam they had been standing on moments before and feeling relieved for the hard ground under her feet. "What 'elp was that?"

"It didn't work," River said briefly, going about meddling with the manipulator's controls. "I just have to adjust the – Excuse me? Could you let go of my arm now please?"

"Sorry," Rose let go instantly. "I just didn't want you to vanish off without me."

River glared at her, "What kind of woman do you think I am?"

"Well…" Rose counted on her fingers, "A murdering, gun-carrying, mental lunatic from what I've seen."

River smirked, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, "I prefer the term psychopath, more specific, more scientific, less long winded."

* * *

John had never run faster in his life. He knew the Doctor, and he could very well say that he knew the Doctor better than anyone in existence. And he knew that the Doctor had a nasty habit of vanishing off in the TARDIS just as someone was running to meet him. Out of memory most recently Captain Jack, and John didn't feel like holding onto the outside of the TARDIS as it whizzed through time and space.

He barreled through the streets coming to a stop near where the TARDIS was meant to be. Nothing was there.

John looked around. There were several buildings nearby, any one of which might contain the TARDIS and its passengers. "Hello? Have you come to give me a ride home?"

* * *

"…more scientific, less long winded. Although, I do…"

"Quiet!" Rose held up a finger to her lips.

River shushed, looking completely put out for not being allowed to finish her sentence. "I don't hear anything." Her words were lost on Rose, who barreled out the door. "Come back here!" She suddenly realized why the Doctor was always complaining about his companions always running off. She quickly followed after Rose.

Outside, Rose was embracing a man. After a second, River recognized him. She had only met the regeneration of the Doctor this man resembled and even then he had barely known her; she had gotten the idea that he had only met her once or twice before. Rose had found her love it seemed. A human Doctor. He seemed to be the ultimate oxymoron. The Doctor living as a human, stuck in a single time, a single place. He would be miserable, yet this man wasn't; he was smiling, widely, joyously. Because of her, Rose. And the look on John's face, River had seen it before in the eyes of her Doctor. She wished that he would look at her like that, but it was quite obviously a look reserved purely for Rose Tyler.

* * *

"But they can't get in, right? Tell me they can't get in!" Amy quickly backed away from the door, as if such a small amount of distance would affect whether or not she got shot by a Dalek.

"They can't get in," the Doctor said, rubbing his hands together nervously.

"Is that a lie?" Rory asked.

The Doctor starred at him, "Of course it's a lie, Rory. It wasn't even a clever lie. I have better things to think about right now than clever lies. Although," he hurried over the control panel and wiggled a few of the controls to no avail, "I think I'll have to think of a few good ones rather soon." He headed back to the door, pausing with his hand on the lock. He glanced back at Amy and Rory. The last time he had been captured by the Daleks they had tried to destroy the TARDIS, with Donna inside. The problem with being over a thousand years old was that you always seemed to fall into the same situations. You saw everything, could predict anything. And here he was, stuck in almost the same situation as he was a few hundred years previously. The Daleks outside ready to destroy his precious ship, his constant companion. That being said he had two others, a hundred times more dear to think about. And while staying in the TARDIS held the risk of being incinerated, going out there had a large chance of being zapped by a Dalek laser, so… "Stay here."

Before Amy could protest, the Doctor pulled open the lock and slipped outside, keeping the door open narrowly enough to hide the two still inside.

The eye stalks of the ten or so Daleks surrounding the TARDIS all turned to stare at him. "Exterminate! Exter…"

"Wait!" the Doctor's hand bolted in the air. "You don't want to shoot me and I'll tell you why. I … um…" A plan, a plan! Well, there was one thing he could think of, just off the top of his head. Old tricks and all that, especially when the ones your tricking can't remember the first dupe. The Doctor cautiously reached down to his jacket pocket, painfully aware that one wrong move would get him zapped. He produced a Jammie Dodger holding it up for the Daleks to see, "Back off or I'll destroy the TARDIS and all of you with it, you got that?"

One of the new issue Daleks, this one a bright green color that might have been pretty if not painted on the vilest being in the universe, rolled forward. "No technology detected. Item no threat. Exterminate!"

The Doctor tossed the Dodger over his shoulder, "Yeah, didn't really think that would work. Your scanners are too good. Last time I tried that you lot were old and damaged, just hanging on."

"Encounter described never occurred," the lead Dalek squawked, shaking with each syllable. "Explain, explain!"

The other Daleks took up the chant, "Explain!"

"Ah that's right, you don't have a clue who I am. Must be frustrating. And if you kill me, you'll never know. And not knowing isn't any fun, is it?"

"You are a Time Lord. An enemy of the Daleks. You will give us the information we demand."

"What information?" The Doctor asked, puzzled. "Explain," he said, imitating the way the Daleks said the word.

"How have the Time Lords hidden their home world? Where is Gallifrey? You will explain. Explain!"

The Doctor licked his lips, "Oh this is Christmas. Good old Oswin, she really did you a hard hit, didn't…"

One of the Daleks interrupted, "Records found, you are the Doctor. You trespassed on the Asylum."

"Doctor who?" he grinned, "Is that all you have on me? You need a library card, go look me up properly. Actually ignore that, don't look me up. Forget I said anything at all... You're good at that."

"You are evading the question." The Dalek was shaking more now. They might claim to be void of emotion, but the Doctor prided himself in being able to make the species extremely irritated.

"Where is the planet Gallifrey?" the Daleks demanded, "Explain!"


	11. Chapter 11

Rose and John finally released each other after several minutes of River standing awkwardly off to the side. Rose blinked, her hand still resting on John's chest, the other hand entangled with his. "Oh, um… River, this is John."

"I got that," River said, reaching out and shaking John's free hand, "Pleasure."

"You're River Song, right? The Doctor met you once, I remember. At the libra…" he was cut off by River's hand slamming over his mouth.

"Spoilers! Chances are, that hasn't happened for me yet, so I can't know about it." She released John's face, "You have the Doctor's memories, you ought to know."

"Of course, I apologize. You had that diary, and…" The memories of the Doctor's life, like an internet search engine programmed for certain words, were always just within reach but John had learned to tuck them away. it was easier that way, easier to live his own life. But as the memories of River Song came flooding into clarity, John realized the extent of damage he could have reaped if he hadn't been silenced. "That hasn't happened for you yet, of course. How could it?" He ran his hand through his hair. "Is that a vortex manipulator?" he asked gesturing to the clunky device on her wrist.

River glanced down at it scornfully, "Yes, but it isn't working. Won't lock onto the TARDIS."

John held out a hand and River raised an eloquent eyebrow. "Let me see it," John said, gesturing more insistently for River to hand him the device.

River sighed, unclipping the manipulator and sliding it over her hand. "I've already tried."

John turned the manipulator over in his hands. "What I wouldn't do for a sonic." He glanced up at River, "You wouldn't happen to…"

"A sonic screwdriver? No. If you wanted to hypnotize someone, I have some rather lovely lipstick that might do the trick."

"Hallucinogenic lipstick, really?" John laughed. "That's a parlor trick, right up there with blood control." Rose giggled at this.

"Physic paper," River said simply. "You're not one to talk."

John flashed her a boyish grin, "_I've_ never used psychic paper in my life. The Doctor has, but not me! By the way, I fixed your manipulator. And updated it. And the reason it wasn't locking onto the TARDIS was you had it set for the matrix. For some reason the TARDIS is off, like her soul is asleep."

"Why would that 'appen?" Rose asked, her face lined with worry for the ancient ship. It seemed silly, but ever since she had merged with the soul of the TARDIS she had felt close to it, as if it was part of her still. The idea of it in danger was like having a dear member of her family in mortal danger.

"Let's go find out," John said, slipping the manipulator onto his wrist.

* * *

"We should go out there," Amy said, pacing.

Rory shook his head, "The Doctor told us to stay in here, that's what we're going to do."

Amy rolled her eyes, "Like that's ever stopped us." She made a go for the door, but Rory grabbed her hand at the last moment.

"We're staying in here. For one thing, the Daleks might not know we're in here so we'll be more help to the Doctor is we stay where we are. Am I right?"

"Yes," Amy gave in, "but I don't like it."

There was a flash behind them and Amy and Rory spun around. "River!" Amy ran over to her daughter, pulling her into a hug. "I may have to ground you," she joked. She released her and turned to John, "You must be the… um… meta-thingy."

John reached out and shook her hand, "Meta-crisis Doctor, but I go by John now, easier to put on forms. I have absolutely no idea who you are…"

"Oh! I'm Amy and," she pulled her husband closer, "this is Rory. We travel with the Doctor."

"Got that bit, thanks. So what's out there then?" John bounded over to the door.

"No!" Amy and Rory shouted as one.

John stopped, his hand hovering over the handle. "What?" He peeked out the window. "Oh, yeah. That makes sense. They're what destroyed the planet. I was hoping they'd gone by now. Is that the Doctor?" he asked, catching sight of the back of a rather shaggy head. "He's regenerated."

River moved to the door next to him, unsheathing her gun. "I could take out at least four Daleks. Enough to give the Doctor a chance to get back to the…"

John glared at her, "No guns." He took a deep breath, then glanced over at Rose, holding out a hand for her to take.

She came over to him, "What are you planning?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course."

John gave her a slightly sad smile, and kissed her forehead, moving his lips down to touch gently against hers. "Good. Stay here." With that he slipped out and closed the door behind him.

* * *

The Doctor turned around in surprise as the TARDIS door opened. "Amy I told you to… oh, how'd you get in there?"

John shrugged, "Vortex manipulator."

The Doctor nodded, "Ah! Good, River's alright. Good." He felt a flood of relief, the image of her broken body awaiting him on the planet below erasing itself from his mind.

"You will be silent!" One of the Daleks exclaimed. "Conversation will cease."

"Nah," John said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I really don't like not talking, it's boring. Besides I want to know why you guys had me abducted. I assume you were the ones who hired the Judoon, blackmailed them, whatever. What really matters is _why?_"

"The Judoon were just tools to acquire you." The lights on top of the head of the talking Dalek flashed with each word, "They were sleeper agents."

John frowned, "What?"

"Living beings half-converted into Daleks," the Doctor whispered to him.

"That's new," John said.

"Yeah," said the Doctor. "It's their newest thing."

"Silence," the Dalek demanded. "The Judoon mean nothing. You are what is required."

"Me?" John and the Doctor asked as one.

* * *

River gritted her teeth as she watched John and the Doctor led away by the Daleks. "I could have saved him," she turned to Rose, "what was your stupid husband thinking? Going out there!" She slammed her fist on the TARDIS door in frustration, then turned and stormed over to the controls. Methodically she moved through the actions of having the TARDIS take off, to no avail. It stayed steadfastly planted on the ground. "Temporal prison," she muttered. "Shouldn't be hard to counteract, give me a while?" A fixed expression of annoyance and frustration on her face, she went down the steps and the others could see her busying herself with the wires and cables under the glass floor.

Amy was back at the TARDIS door, looking out as the Doctor and his duplicate were led away. "You know," she said, "There aren't that many Daleks left out there. I could probably sneak out."

This got River's attention and her head popped out from under the controls.

"The Doctor told us to stay here," Rory said.

Rose rolled her eyes, "You always do what the Doctor says then? Wonder you're still alive!" She swung open the doors and strolled outside.


	12. Chapter 12

"So you and Rose?" the Doctor said, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he and John were herded down the corridors of the Dalek ship.

John smirked, "Well you never managed it."

"Oi! What's that supposed to mean, then?" The Doctor glared at his former regeneration's duplicate.

"You _know_. As I remember you couldn't get past, 'Rose Tyler'," John stuffed his hands into his pockets, not even realizing that he was mirroring the Doctor.

"That was not my fault, you know that. It was always Rose."

"What's that supposed to mean?" John stopped in his tracks and glared at him. The Dalek behind him hovered forward threateningly. "Alright, alright, keep your sucker on!" John said to the Dalek, turning back to the Doctor, "You missed your opportunity there, Doctor. Besides, I got the idea that you and River…"

"Yeah, she… um…she roped me in." The Doctor smiled as if amused by his own little joke, "Well actually she bowtied me in. We were in an alternate timeline created by a disrupted fixed point. It's complicated. But you and Rose, that's good. Just glad she's happy."

"Conversation will cease!" The Dalek behind John screeched.

"Shut up!" the Doctor and John shouted back as one.

The Doctor turned back to John, "Any idea where they're taking us? And why do they 'require' you?"

"Not a clue," John said, "I was hoping you would."

The Doctor groaned, "Still working that out." He went pale. "Oh! I think I've got it! No, no it can't be… it is… that's really not good. We have to get you out of here!"

John glimpsed round at the Daleks herding them on. The Daleks, while it seemed they had given up on keeping the pair silent, were no doubt listening closely. "Right, first word we ever said to Rose?"

"_I _ever said."

"Technicality!"

"Fine, yes. I agree. With me." The Doctor waited until they had come to a part of the corridor that branched out into three others before shouting "Now!" And with that they both took off running down the corridor, ducking as Dalek lasers zapped over their heads.

* * *

Amy and River quickly followed as Rose disappeared out the door. River held her gun at the ready, taking out the few remaining Daleks in the room. Amy paused at the door. "Come _on_, Rory!"

Rory gritted his teeth, but joined her none the same. "One of these days you are going to get me killed," he hissed. He thought about what he had just said, then added, "Again!"

"Hush!" Rose said, holding a finger to her lips. "Listen, what's that?"

"There's nothing," Amy whispered after listening for a few seconds to nothing more than the thrum of the engines of the ship.

"No," River said, "She's right. There's something more. It's the engines, but listen to that! It's loud, like a generator wired in."

"To the engines?" Rory asked, "Why would someone wire a generator into the _engines_? Wouldn't that drain the ship's power?"

River went pale, "This is more like adding power to the engines. A generator that big, that's a lot of power."

"A lot of power," Rose repeated, sickened, "A lot of power in the 'ands of the Daleks. This is more than just a kidnapping. We're missing something."

* * *

"We're missing something," the Doctor panted.

They had just ran through numerous corridors and shimmed up and down level shafts for three decks at least. The shafts were, unfortunately, designed for Daleks which made navigation of them difficult for anyone who couldn't hover. The Doctor and John had been forced to half-slid, half-climb down the rough shafts, tearing the skin on their hands apart in the process. The Daleks didn't seem to care if the shafts were smoothly finished. It was almost as if the plating of the shafts had been stripped and reused elsewhere. Finally, after being completely convinced they had lost their pursuers, they had dropped down exhausted behind a computer access point, hopefully out of sight and hidden from the sensors by the computer core's electricity.

John grinned, "I've missed _this_."

"I meant…"

"I know what you meant," John interrupted. "None of this makes much sense does it. They're using the Judoon like puppets, they don't know you…"

"I've been erased from their memory banks. All they know about me is that I trespassed on their loony bin, which to be fair they _asked_ me to do in the first place. Not that they remembered. Then of course there's the…"

"… the rumbling." John listened for a moment, "A generator? What are they building? And what does it have to do with me?"

The Doctor licked his lips, running a hand through his hair. He looked over at his double, "I've worked that bit out. Not the _what_ they're building, not exactly. But why they need you, yeah, think I got that…"

"I haven't, what I miss?"

"Earlier they asked me where Gallifrey was, they had no clue. It was as if they thought the Time War was still going on."

John's eyes went wide, "It was more than just having you erased from their memory, they forgot what you've _done!_ How did you manage that? It's brilliant!"

"They're trying to break the time lock," the Doctor said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's why they needed you. You're a battery."

"I was created from regeneration energy." John suddenly realized the magnitude of the pile of troubles they were in, "Oh that's not good."

"Infinite power source. They could use me, but I would just regenerate. You _can't_. They could use you to snap the time lock, the time war would start all over again."


	13. Chapter 13

**Like the Doctor, I hate endings. So I'm having a very hard time writing one for this story. It will be finished, but it may take me a while. Sorry this chapter took so long.**

* * *

Rose crept through the corridors of the ship. As River insisted on continuing to remind everyone, they had probably already been noticed by the Daleks. Amy and Rory were trailing along behind, making what was meant to be a sneaky group more of a parade.

"Where did they take them?" Amy whispered, convinced that they were simply running around randomly with no idea of exactly where they were going. Which to be honest was the definition of traveling with the Doctor.

River glanced back at her mother, "Dalek ships have five levels. The top two are just storage, although I suppose you could call it living quarters as that is where the majority of the Daleks stay when the ship is in transit. We're on the second level to the bottom, navigation. The central computer, which connects the Daleks' hive mind is on the level above us and…" she paused, "experimentation is below. That's where they take their prisoners. People don't generally come back from the bottom level."

"So that's where we're going," Rory clarified.

"That's where they would have taken the Doctor," River said simply. "But first, let's be a little bit bothersome, shall we?"

* * *

John and the Doctor pressed themselves against a wall, trying to make even their shadows less noticeable as a Dalek rolled by. Both held their breath, waiting for the sound of the hatch on the other side of the room sliding open. There was silence. His hearts beating hard, the Doctor peered around the corner. The Dalek was turned away from his, connected to the computer core.

"Device prepared!" the Dalek squawked, seemingly to itself, although both the Doctor and John knew that it was communicating with its buddies. "Location of the prisoners shall be coordinated from this point."

The Doctor slid back out of sight, trying to keep his breath calm and quiet. He glanced at John, who looked nervous and more than a little ticked off. "Stay here!" the Doctor mouthed, knowing what his double was thinking.

"Give me the sonic," John mouthed back. "I have an idea."

"What's your…"

"Give me the sonic!"

Knowing that he was likely to regret John's mystery plan, the Doctor reluctantly handed over his sonic.

John stared at it a moment, "It's different! You changed the sonic!"

"Go!" the Doctor hissed, waving John away.

Stepping out from their hiding place, John made it about four feet before the ship shuddered, a siren going off, and the Dalek shrieked "Humanoids detected!" If Daleks got excited, than this one could be described as ecstatic.

John froze. He glanced back at the Doctor, not understanding how they could have just now been found. He took a deep breath. "Alright," he started to clap, "You found us, well done."

The Dalek literally spun around, the camera on its eye stalk dooming in on John's face. "Prisoners located." It was still attached to the computer and as if receiving orders, it paused. "The one known as John Smith will be taken to the temporal destabilizer. The Doctor will be exterminated. Exterminate!"

"Some things never change!" the Doctor ducked down, a shot of light zooming over his head and hitting into the wall behind him. Darting across the room, the Doctor high-tailed his way out of the room, John close at his heels. "We have to find the others," the Doctor said, narrowly avoiding being zapped. "Amy never does as she's told," he glanced back at John, grinning madly, "it's wonderful. Come on!"

They were back at one of the shafts and the Doctor dived down, head first, tumbling to the floor below. He quickly moved out of the way to avoid being squashed by John a moment later. They moved out of the shaft into a long, curving hallway.

"Doctor," a voice whispered weakly.

He stopped, turning in circles to locate the speaker. Finally glancing at ground he noticed a crumpled form leaning against the wall. "River!" he exclaimed, rushing to her side. "What happened?"

"Explosion," she said, and he noticed that she had a hand clamped to her stomach, blood coated over her white jacket. "Thought we'd do a little bit of sabotaging, since we were there. Guess it was a bit obvious, blowing up the navigational computer," she grimaced, watching as the Doctor lifted her hand up to see her injury.

"Doctor," John said, "Sorry to rush you. But we won't be alone for long."

"We agreed to split up, I made a run for it," she gasped in pain, biting her lip as the Doctor pulled back the formally white cloth, exposing a jagged piece of metal protruding from her stomach. "Turns out I'm slower than debris."

The Doctor's face was purposely expressionless. "You're going to be fine," he lied, forcing a small smile and placing a kiss on her forehead. "John, take her to the TARDIS."

"You can't just hand me off!" River protested.

He got up and pulled his double aside. "About a thousand years ago, there is a brilliant hospital really nearby. Get her there, _now!_" John opened his mouth to suggest the Doctor go instead. "I'll find Rose and Amy and Rory, but we're all a lot safer if you aren't here. You're the one they want after all."

John nodded, putting his arm around River and helping her to heave herself to her feet. "Here," he said, handing the Doctor back the screwdriver.

"Take care of her," the Doctor said, putting the sonic back in its pocket. His hand brushed against something small and metal. He pulled out the key, pressing it into the hand River wasn't using to hold back the flow of blood.

She stared at it numbly, disbelievingly, then tucked it safely away.

"'Bout time you had one anyway. Couldn't exactly give you on when you were in and out of prison every five minutes, who knows who could have gotten their hands on it. Now go, both of you. And John I'll be needing you to come back, otherwise getting out of here might be potentially problematic."


	14. Chapter 14

Billions of years from the twenty-first century, and hospital rooms hadn't changed much. The rhythmic beep of machines was audible in the background, still measuring the beat of the heart and the quality of brain activity. Hospital beds, also, had hardly changed. They still were hard, framed by metal bars to keep the occupant from rolling off, and the covers still smelled like too many washings. This hospital room, tucked away at the top of the New New York Hospital tower, was private. A single bed was centered, light from the window strewing onto the ground next to it. On the table next to the bed, the sweet smell battling some of the medicinal cleanliness every hospital from the beginning of hospitals possessed, was a tall vase of brilliantly red roses, tied together with a TARDIS blue ribbon.

River became aware of all of this as her eye lids fluttered open. She blinked, looking around, her head in a haze and therefore taking in the details of the room slowly. There was a man standing, looking out the window, who after a few moments, she realized was the Doctor. She was reminded of the day, quite a while ago for her now, when she had laid in a hospital rather similar to this one, having given the Doctor her remaining regenerations after she had killed him.

He turned, seeming to sense she was awake. "Good morning…" he glanced back out the window, "well, actually more like 'good late afternoon'." He smiled, crossing over to her bed and sitting by her legs. "Your parents went down to the shop – they have one here now, this place didn't used to when it was run by cats, well it's still run by cats, but nice cats now, I checked – we didn't think you'd be awake for a while."

"What happened?" River asked, even though the events of the last few days were already starting to trickle back. "Last thing I remember I was in the TARDIS, leaving the Dalek ship…"

"Ah well, we beat them. They had taken Rose prisoner, turns out she's pregnant. Just enough of John's DNA to have regeneration energy for their machine. Your parents found me and together we managed to save Rose. Amy sprained her wrist, but otherwise they should all be fine. John got back in time to give us all a ride back here. Rose and John are back in the past. I dropped them back at their house, gave them both bio-dampening rings. Should hide them both. The Daleks won't be any more trouble, at least not that group, although I think I might have managed to get back on their wanted list."

River chuckled, "Good for you, knew you'd manage it eventually." She glanced over at the flowers. "Those are pretty. Complimentary?"

"Why would flowers give compl… oh no, no. They're not."

"Knew you'd work it out."

"No, I got them. It was all sort of white in here."

"They're pretty," River said again, reaching over to touch one of the delicate petals. He flinched as twisting pulled at her healing skin.

"Here," the Doctor said, leaning over and pulling a red rose out of the vase, tapping the water off then handing it to her.

River took it, bring it up to sniff. "Thank you."

He looked down at the red flower in her hands, "For the roses?"

"For staying."


End file.
